Kuwahara X Spielberg / I'm old.

I can't even begin to describe how much I wanted this when I was 9. My favorite brand of bike was Kuwahara and this thing was the coveted trophy to show off at the jumps. Never could lock it down though. Through some random turn of events, I stumbled across this article describing the process they used to develop it. If anyone ever sees one anywhere, let me know.

These guys had the best team back then for about 3 years. Gary Ellis (Kuwahara) was the man until Harry Leary (Diamond Back), Greg Hill (GHP), and Stu Thomson (Redline) hit their stride around '84 and started owning it until BMX went primarily freestyle around '86.



I remember seeing all of those guys at the 1983 ABA Grand Nationals in Tulsa The above BMX Plus cover is from the finals of that race. (Jesus, I'm old.). So starstruck. There was a Hutch demo there that year where I actually may have shit my pants after someone bunnyhopped a garbage can. True story.



This one blew my mind too. Mike Dominguez (Haro) running the elusive vented Haro Tech number plate. These things were a hot commodity. I had one with my Oil Capital BMX ABA number and everything. Sah-weet.

Oye Mi Gente!

Strip Mall

Ummmmm.....

Seen at a Jersey diner. Do you think they know what they are promoting? I am going to say no....

The way it should be done.

Monday I headed up to LA (office closed-MLK day) and checked out There Will Be Blood at the Arclight in Hollywood. It goes without saying that the movie was good, but this theater is amazing. Super clean and well designed, great sound, and even an intro from an actual person. Also, the fresh kettle corn was a nice touch. Definitely not your typical butter soaked carpets and overstuffed trashcans here, this place is a new favorite stop.

Dude, Where's My Car?

A BMW transport ship, tipped over at the Port in Jersey City and damaged over 350 BMWs. The lot consisted of mostly M3s with some 3 and 1- series vehicles.

According to sources, the 70+ cars that were declared a total loss are going to be crushed. The remainder will be repaired @ the Elizabeth recieving facility. Beware of this year's lot of cars and make sure to pick up a CARFAX kit.

Freakin' Joey Trombone must have been blasted on some Absinthe trying to parallel park the boat at the Port. "I got this, yo". Stoops!

Craze...still has it.

Have you ever seen someone do something and you just know they look at it a whole different way that anyone else does? Gonz with skating, Terje with snowboarding, Slater with surfing, and, as unrelated as it may seem, Craze with DJ'ing.

I remember going to the 99 DMC Worlds in NYC and seeing him for the first time. By that point he had won 3 world titles and was pretty much at the top of his game. But as you can see from this (which was taken last summer), he still puts it down.

For those who don't know, just take into account that he is scratching equally as well with both hands. Enough said.

Here is the DMC 99 routine. Check the needle drops around 3:30 in and the no crossfader/needle drops shortly thereafter. Next level.

Pretty sure Al and I were in the front row all hepped up on Krispy Kreme's with pocketfuls of mixtapes.

About F'n Time.

Despite scares of a Scott Norwood incident, Lawrence Tines pulled through to bring Ole' Big Blue to the Stupor Bowl.

I'll Pay You Tuesday...

As a kid, I wasn't too much into fast food aside from french fries and some ice cream. I grew up with Grandma cooking me freaky Flip food everyday after school. It wasn't until 8th grade when I was in a neighbor's garage working on our breakdancing routine for the talent show, did I get my first taste of burnt meat.

There was some Big Mac $1 promotion, so Pops bought a stack. We were all hyped to say the least, straight out of a commercial. But tales of low grade meat and scares of food poisoning kept me off the meat wagon for some time aside from chicken wings and the occasional backyard burger.

All Growed Up, I still didn't have a taste for America's sandwich even with every diner on the corner serving the deluxe special and every fancy restaurant serving some bullshit with Roquefort cheese on an English Muffin. Ugh.



From traveling around, I began to slowly grow an appreciation for what specialty burger joints had to offer. But finding a good local joint is pretty tough. The Burger Joint still reigns supreme as the official "In And Out" of NY. However, as of late many places have been popping up trying their version, but still failing to justify me paying $15 for a good old burger, fries, and Coke.



And there came Good Burger. Suffering from a roller coaster of dropping blood sugar, I saw the place, saw some empty seats, and figured how bad could it be? Flashes from the Keenan & Kel classic, "Good Burger", where Keenan has to get a job after crashing into Sinbad and damaging his Stang; danced through my head as I walked into the joint. A quick order and a walk to my seat, I began to see what all the hub-bub was about. Praises from all the approprate sources claimed GB as the shit. I had to eat it to believe it.



Much to my suprise, after my first chomp, I felt transported to that day in Laguna Niguel while sitting on the guardrail just under the 73 when I got my first taste of greatness. It was amazing actually. Same type wrapper, same box, same fries except that I was able to order medium rare and the fries came extra crispy.

Too good to be true. We'll see if they can maintain the same quality with it's multiple locations and after some time of it's recent opening. Overall, it's a proper burger & a decent joint when you're in the neighborhood. Although Burger Joint wins for ambiance, there's a bunch of Popeye/ Wimpy bullshit to look at while you're eating. Church.

Half Man, Half Amazing.

There are no words....

I can't even describe the horror*. Something is telling me you won't see this on the nightly news. OK, maybe in Slovakia or somewhere where this type of thing happens every day.

*WARNING- Do not be eating any one or a combination of the following when clicking through the above link:

A) Hostess Cherry Pie
B) Quizno's Roast Beef sub with BBQ sauce.
C) Candy Apple
D) Japanese Vending Machine Panties
E) All of the above.

Corey Worthington has a posse.

This kid pretty much makes Jeff Spicoli look like Mahatma Gandhi. Only one guy on the internet could ever possibly top him.

*Thanks to The Mate over in NZ for the Southern Hemi link connection.

Hell hath frozen over.

The snowstorm* that just hit Buffalo must have been a serious one. When I was growing up, this never happened. Hamburg was always known as sending their students and faculty out into the fray regardless of how bad the weather was. I saw a snowplow in a ditch one morning on the way to school, and the bus just drove right by. True story.

*This video is old, but it shows how gnarly lake effect snow can get.

AC GEARS

Much to the dismay of wallets everywhere, AudioCubes has opened a store right here in town near NYU. Chock full of JDM super geek toys, every Asian has found a new place to drop their paycheck second to Flight Club. Now you can own your own Robot or Ramen Noodle timer.

Zack Galifianakis

I've been trying to see this guy for over 2 years since seeing the Comedians of Comedy. He definitely breaks from the norm doing things like, say, performing his monologue for preschoolers, doing a period piece like he was in revolutionary times, and appearing in various places as his brother Seth, even though he never admits its him.





I can't really remember anyone doing this sort of stuff since Andy Kaufman. Definitely watch the Kimmel clip. Hopefully he'll roll through at some point.

How You Gonna Give Me These Bitch Bars?

I dunno if I'm late to this party, but these are some funny motherfuckers. Really.

Ultimate Craze

The second beef with iPhones next to the weak battery life, is the gay ass recessed headphone jack, which rendered my $200 Bang & Olufsen headphones useless. Of course, I did attempt to use the Monster Cable 4in extension, but it basically looked like a big dong extending off the phone. Gay.



Well Ultimate Ears has come out with the Super.Fi 4v. A company known for the most expensive earphones where you get a personal custom mold for your ears, has come out with an incredible set of headphones for the iPhone. Machined in a nice gunmetal, the headphones have the speaking and iPod functions that you all wished for and finally you can put those white bullshit stock headphones to rest.



An essential for Subway commuters like myself who get tired of the random freestyle mariachi bands, and kids trying to peddle 5 dollar M&Ms from the $11 case they just bought from Costco. Always running some bullshit story about trying to buy some uniforms for their basketball team. Bitch, I want the new Jordans too, but I got a job.

Heat Wave

After procrastinating and procrastinating, I finally copped a set of Nike Goadomes for the shitty New York Winter Weather. Normally, I have to deal with wet jeans, wet socks, and salt stains on my Air Max's. I was good to go. Then Mr. Heatmiser blows a fart and brings on the heat. It's going to be close to 70 degrees here today. Thanks for nothing Wale.

Lee Jeezy

Lee Dogg was in town recently for the Bike Convention where a bike he designed for LRG was unveiled. Homeboy is Soul Brother #1 and easily one of the most quotable genius' ever. Responsible for the infamous, "We have to chill now", "Just take off and land", "Shut Up, Fag!', and the newly coined, "Fuck Quesadillas". Fucking Priceless.




Got to check out the bike which was amazing. A stretch Suzuki Hayabusa taken straight out of some Anime flick. The bike had some amazing one off custom items, high end race parts, and the LEE-R-G magic touch. Heads were freaking out.

Pimpin' Ain't Easy.



Norm Nice Sittin' Sideways.



During the show at the Javits we all got to break out and hit up the Buffalo Alumni favorite: Atomic Wings. The goodness.




And if that wasn't enough, we hit up Carmine's that evening for dinner. Big thanks to LRG and Two Wheel Tuner for the 5 Star weekend. Holla. Good to have you back on the block, yo!

I Love It.

While I'm sure everyone has had a taste of the Fully Flared madness; it is still a refreshing watch, if not simply for the soundtrack. It helped be break from my recent Three Six Mafia/ UGK rotation.

The best track is a toss up between King Diamond and that "GoodBye Horses" song which I always remember from that fucked Buffalo Bill scene from Silence of the Lambs. Put the lotion in the basket!!!

Go Buckeyes!

While here visiting Columbus, Ohio area, I thought I'd try and see what makes one of the fattest cities in America, well...fat. Ohio is known to be one of the most congested congregations of chain restaurants. Where it seemed from the endless drives through vast farmlands, that not too many people lived round these parts, I was amazed to find all of the restaurants were packed all of the time. Where I couldn't believe any single restaurant could stay open among the stretch of restaurant after restaurant, people kept coming out of nowhere to get their eat on.



While my previous assumption that the city is just a bunch of tailgating Ohio State fans was only partially untrue; Ohio is simply home to some good ass cookin'. While I did have my share of Tim Hortons and Chipotle burritos, we did manage to find a diamond in the rough. The Red Pig Inn has been voted one of the Best BBQ/ Pork restaurants in the country and year after year has been taking home trophies in Hot Wing and BBQ Rib competitions. Just my kind of joint.



I picked up the sampler which consisted of a few wings, fries, and a third of a slab of ribs. I couldn't imagine a full kit: it would be like the intro to the Flinstones where they tip the car over. Shit was hella proper. Fall off the bone ribs and near perfect wings: good size, great flavor, but I like my wings fried a little harder. Overall, a great foodie experience, when I thought I'd be suffering at Ponderosa every night.

Round Two

Although my ankle was severely jacked after my slight run in with an evergreen yesterday, I could'nt resist a trip to my favorite resort, Powder Mountain. The Forester made it up perfectly, I even passed a couple of big 4WD pickups that were spinning out. Since my days of white knuckling through whiteouts to deliver pizzas while they were still hot,Subarus have never let me down.

This place is the way it should be. No fancy lodge, they still run a bus to pick up riders out in "Powder Country", and they still have the Lightning Ridge Express (a snowmobile with a rope on the back with 5 knots tied in it, one for each customer), which is only $10 per ride to over 800 acres of untouched snow. Definitely a pleasant change from the super resort real estate extravaganzas that are so prevalent everywhere. The coolest thing is to see all the ski patrol kicking it together in the lodge, they are really like a family and have a real love for the place for reasons even beyond the snow conditions.

Do you think someone would take the time and care to make a needlepoint rug for the Copper Mountain or Keystone ticket window? Neither do I.

It killed me to have to take it easy, but I guess that gives me a good reason to go back soon. The drive out there looks like Western New York. Maybe that is why I am so drawn to it. If only they had chicken finger subs up there.

6th chair. 2 feet plus.

Grabbed the early shift and headed up the canyon early. I got there right when the Milly lift opened and got sixth chair. Took a few fun snake runs and never hit another track for a while. I was getting off the chair right when they opened Milly Bowl and that was basically heli conditions. Chris and Brock showed and we did some fun lines out of bounds. I clipped a tree with my tail after a little drop and sprained my ankle which really sucked.

Coan's arrival pushed me to keep at it, and we kept lapping our line. Tons of chutes, cliffs and pow shots. When all was said and done, we nursed our bodies (my ankle, Chris and Brock's backs, Nate's anxiety) with some wings and french dips in the lodge before taking another run to wrap it up.

Captain D's on that Bitch.

Pop Art

Feet and Feet and Feet.

My flight leaves at 6pm Friday.

Found:Critical Condition

About every three months or so I look for this on the old YouTube. Well, today all of the tumblers lined up and I was awarded with the jackpot that is Fall Line Film's Critical Condition.



My search for the DVD or equivalent digital version will not stop by the way.

For the other 5 parts as well as Riders on the Storm, you can click right over here.

Rosy.

New Year's Day we headed up to Pasadena at the crack of dawn for the Rose Parade. My Mom has wanted to go to this since as long as I can remember so it was great to be able to go with her, Wally and Pam.

The scene at 8am. Literally a million people along the whole 5 mile parade route. Pretty unreal to see firsthand.

We drove up to Union Station in Downtown LA and then took the Metro train to Pasadena. I was really impressed with the Metro system, super clean and efficient. After the parade, we hit El Torito and then went to see all of the floats close up. Even if this type of thing does'nt seem like your deal, you can't help but be impressed at the the level of handmade craftmanship. It is something you just don't see that often anymore. The rules are you can only use things that grow out of the ground to decorate the floats. From shaved coconut to peanuts to limes to edamame, it was all there. If you live in California, you should definitely go at least once in your life.

The Dodgers 50th anniversary float.

Dia de los Muertos

Colorado Boulevard about 30 minutes before the parade started. Packed. Some people got there at 6am the day before and camped out. Damn.

Trader Joe's had a pretty insane 55ft long float. The detail of these things is crazy. You can't really appreciate it until you see them up close.

Closing the deal.

"You know this house just is'nt moving. We need a closer. I have a great idea to really drive it home, let's put it at the bottom of the sign...."

Ohio Represent